


Tales of Ark

by The_8th_Arrow



Category: Tales of Zestiria, 天狼 Sirius the Jaeger | Sirius the Jaeger (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tainted (Tales of Zestiria), Alternate Universe - Tales of Zestiria, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23051950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_8th_Arrow/pseuds/The_8th_Arrow
Summary: Trouble brewed fast for the newly appointed shepherd.
Relationships: Mikhail & Yuliy (Sirius the Jaeger)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Tales of Ark

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a Sirius the Jaeger x Tales of Zestiria crossover for dear [imiriad](https://imiriad.tumblr.com/). So sorry it took a while.

The first time Yuliy encountered a tainted entity, he was a newly ordained shepherd.

Adopted and chosen by men and seraphim alike, Yuliy was trained to fight and to purify malevolence at the highest degree to cleanse the land and to keep the peace reigning in the world of men. He had been accustomed to the feeling of blessing and enmity that resides within the hearts of both men and seraphim ever since he was a child.

To objectify the good and the bad in his eyes came with his high resonance towards spirits. He was used to them.

But, to see a tainted seraph was a new experience for the young shepherd.

Still decked in his white ceremonial robes and the newly conferred shepherd’s cloak, Yuliy came across a man whose entire being was surrounded by malevolence. He was most definitely not a human being like he was but a seraph like his companions. What surprised him the most was the resemblance of this man to a person from his past.

“…Mikhail?”

Before him was the face of a person Yuliy was not expecting to see at this time and date.

Perhaps it was apathy he was seeing or this man who had the face of a long-departed family did not acknowledge the connection between them. There were differences despite the similarities now that he has taken a good look. For all he knew, his brother was a human and not a seraph.

Yuliy had reasons to believe that fate must be toying with them right now. He did not know whether to be happy or not that this person exists and had shown himself to him. Nevertheless, this was a tainted seraph, thankfully not a dragon with which most seraphim turn into once they were tainted and beyond saving.

“No.” The man replied, almost drawling in the process. “My name is Ioseph.”

Great Maotelus, even his voice was the same!

“I see. Pardon my assumption.” Yuliy steeled himself. “Forgive me but have you come for a confession?”

“Yes, I do. I was hoping that it will be you who would come to hear it.” The man stared at him as if evaluating him with a critical eye but he smiled convincingly and kneeled before him like a knight in service of the Dragon of Light.

“You, born in the brilliance and purity of the light, your warm presence is a grace gifted to earth and a blessing to the deplored. Long may your spark bring eternal salvation to man and spirit just as our Lord brings malignance to feed the damned.”

Blobs of dark miasma welled up at the man’s feet and surrounding him with suffocating malevolence. It bubbled up from the ground, immediately wilting the plants nearby. Yuliy jumped away from the forming pit and covered his nose with the sleeves of his robe. Even for a human-like him, this kind of malevolence was too much.

“I was wondering what kind of toy our Master has his eye on this time. Now that I have seen it myself, it seems to be somewhat substandard.”

The shepherd ignored the jab. He was not that shallow. “Your master?”

“The Lord of Calamity, the evil who will darken the light of the world. Our Master has been eagerly waiting for your ascension, dear Shepherd. He sends his regards as well as a few heartfelt gifts for the occasion.”

Inside the cathedral where the celebration was being held, he heard a bloodcurdling scream and the sound of otherworldly screeches belonged to none other than hellions. To have hellions inside the protective domain of a grand seraph was utterly impossible as there were layers of barriers surrounding the cathedral and yet, here was a seraph bold enough to bring malevolence in sacred ground.

“You –!” Yuliy focused back to the seraph but the man was already gone. Left in his place was an echo of a laugh and some parting words.

“If you don’t hurry, your guest list will be shorter.”

The Great Fires of Sakhalin.

It was a disaster claiming twenty percent of the eastern forest of the island and one entire village of natives. The entire world who heard of the news greatly mourned the loss of an ecosystem, seraphs, and civilians.

Major Hideomi Iba of the Tokyo Imperial Army kept a detailed record of the event even to the last images of the natives living within the forest and he was graciously lenient to Yuliy who always visited his abode to read the files. They were kept in a neat bundle of hard bounds and leather straps and Yuliy found it helpful that the Major had a keen sense of organization as he skimmed through little paper tongues jutting out of the books for topics he wanted to read.

It was said that the Fires started in the village and the natives who were devout to the seraphs guarding their domain were in an uproar. Another story claimed that it was the seraphs who were displeased with men that they became dragons and erased their domain.

To Yuliy, it was a different story.

He flipped the book to another page and came across a printed image of a happy family fully clothed in the snow. The text below described a happy family enjoying the first drops of snow in their little town. The father and the mother side by side, their two sons cradled in their arms and the boys were grinning toothily at the camera. They were all deceased after the Fires as indicated by the reports.

Yuliy stared at the eldest boy. His droopy eyes and that charming smile always brought tightness in his chest through the years. He was Mikhail Jirov, who died at the age of sixteen during the Great Fires with deep cuts on his chest and stab wounds on his back.

He could not forget such a face.

“I see. So the seraph you met had a great resemblance to him.”

Yuliy’s eyes were downcast as he recalled what happened during the celebrations. It had impacted him greatly that he retreated to the military estates to their libraries to read, a defense mechanism he developed when he was under great stress. The Grand Seraph, Willard, encouraged him to do so and it was also he who welcomed him back to the Cathedral after the ordeal.

“It felt strange. I remembered him fighting the hellions all by himself. He was so brave even when outnumbered. He died protecting me.” Yuliy sighed, digging through his memories with great pain and linking it with the recent events. “They might have different names but that person last night bears the same eyes, the same voice, and the same scar-like my brother had.”

Willard glanced at his student whose hands were balled at his sides and his lips drawn in a thin line. He was distraught.

“Could it be he was reborn?” The shepherd muttered.

“Perhaps.” The elder seraph hummed. “Rebirth is not entirely impossible. There are a few cases where humans were reborn as seraphim when they died.”

“Like the Grand Seraph Mikleo of Camlann.” He was the known author of many biographies, historical treatises, and records, and was also the sub lord of a legendary shepherd whose name was permanently etched on the Celestial Records. His name was a recurring text on the books Yuliy read and the muse of a couple of plays at the theatre.

“He is a prime example, yes.”

“Then…”

“I am not saying it is the case. I am saying it is a possibility. If he truly is your brother, he may have most likely lost any memories of his past and yet he may have retained his personality or his mannerisms.” Willard taught Yuliy about this topic more than a few times. The boy had been an avid listener, cramming knowledge in his little brain and learning more of the world outside the village he called home. He was eager to teach him all he knew and Yuliy was eternally grateful for the chance.

Right now, Willard did not want to give the young shepherd false hopes especially regarding the possibility of one surviving kin especially when said kin is on the enemy’s side and a water seraph at that.

“However, the fact that he carries malevolence and that he mentioned the Lord of Calamity as his master, reuniting with him will be very difficult.” The seraph warned. “Worse of all, you will have to fight him head-on.”

It was a guaranteed situation.

“I am not giving up, professor. Despite the circumstances, knowing that he is out there and alive gives me hope.” Yuliy declared. His eyes alight with a determination that wasn’t present before.

“There is no stopping you when you are determined, is there?” Willard huffed in defeat but smiled, wondering if the warmth he was feeling in his chest was what they called pride. Perhaps, he had been worried for nothing. If Yuliy was determined then all they must do was to prepare for the inevitable.

Blades and metal clashed in the middle of the night. The loud clang echoed through the valley in a rhythm that could leave anyone breathless. There was a separate blast coming from above, the trajectory outlined by streaks of light sparkling in the dark, then an occasional glimmer of blades coming to meet them. The ground suddenly shook underneath and a wall made of earth came forth in defense but it was immediately taken down by explosions.

Yuliy took the opportunity to take a staggering breath behind turned over boulders and looked up at the skies.

His brother’s look-alike was reported sniffing around an unmonitored ruin that contained a few rather interesting items that must remain hidden. The Lord of the Land near the valley noticed the disturbing presence and sent Willard a message. Yuliy’s group managed to catch them at the altar.

The fight was rather large for the ruin. Thankfully, they were able to take it outside where an open space was readily available.

Ioseph, the seraph who appeared at the Cathedral, managed to scale the trees and was poised to attack from above. The shepherd dodged away but backtracked when another seraph, a female child, lunged behind him and narrowly missed his spine. He twisted his staff in full circle to deflect the onslaught of throwing knives at his person. Dorothea followed up with a bullet from a mid-air view, making the enemies jump away.

“He can dodge well, I’ll give him that.” Another female child, the twin sister of the first, laughed in high tinkling chuckles.

“Eh, he is but a child pretending to be an adult,” The other twin commented as she came down next to her sister. “Are you sure he’s Lord Ev’s new toy?”

“Yes, the new shepherd among the line.” The man joined them. He looked tall and imposing amidst their little group. His twin blades shone an eerie glow in the moonlight and so were his haunting blue eyes.

“Say, Yuliy? That’s you, right? Isn’t your job too hard for you?” One of the girls called. She was the one with the winged blades. “All the anger and suffering coursing through your veins when you purify hellions must be unbearable.”

“Don’t worry, Yuliy.” Then, the girl with the explosives spoke. Her words were honeyed yet bitter in his ears. “If you give us that box, you won’t be in pain any longer.”

It was true.

As a shepherd, purification was his primary power to rid the land of malevolence. In exchange for that power, all negativity from the hellions he purified will pass through him. It was an excruciating experience that left him weak after a fight. However, it did not mean that he would trade it for anything. He declared his resolve that time at the cathedral, to quell malevolence and to protect the land of the hellions it produces. That promise, his oath, was what made him a shepherd.

Yuliy gritted his teeth and tightened the hold on his staff.

Was that a contemptuous attempt in getting him to surrender and possibly kill him? It looked like it but something was unsettling with this setup. What did the Lord of Calamity want with an artifact buried deep within a forgotten ruin underneath a mountain? To be offered a bargain for relief in exchange for a random item is a mystery to him. Perhaps, it had something to do with his goal of engulfing the land in malevolence.

All the more he could not permit that.

“That won’t be necessary.” Yuliy stood tall in front of his enemies, his friends his constant support behind him. Honestly, he had nothing to fear. He gripped the box tight against his chest and his weapon in front of him. “The relic stays with us.”

“Stubborn child. We were planning to spare you but it is mercy lost now.” One of the girls wielded her weapon and her twin followed suit. “Say your prayers, Yuliy.”

At that moment, Philip broke from their armatization and smashed his fists on the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth to outbalance their opponents and block them with boulders rising from their feet.

“Come, Dorothea,” Yuliy called. “Squall Rusha!”

The opportunity to flee was there and Yuliy took it without hesitation. Along with Philip and Fallon, both dissolving into balls of light and entering the shepherd’s chest, they flew away from the valley as Dorothea’s armatization gave them speed in the air.

“Shepherd!”

Ioseph’s scream caught them off guard and the next thing they knew, ice was forming around Yuliy’s foot connecting it to the ground and making him immobile. The seraph who created it used it as leverage to propel himself in the air and launch an attack.

“You don’t know anything about that box, brat. What makes you think you can have it?” Ioseph growled, swinging his blades once more in an attempt to injure the shepherd.

Yuliy, in his haste to defend himself, accidentally pivoted, causing Ioseph’s blade to slide next to his arm and nicking the box he was holding.

Light spilled out from the crack and Yuliy suddenly experienced the most indescribable thing. Memories that were not his own invaded his mind, showing him tidbits of memories that he recognized were from the small village where he was born.

One of them was of his father who carried him up on his arms to see the vast sea of green where clumps of fir and spruce dotted the grassy earth. Another scene was of his mother who was wrapping a thick hand-knitted scarf around his neck to keep him warm. Following that was a scene of him and his brother, both of them making bets on who can take down a deer first. The scene of the villagers, who were rejoicing after a well-prepared celebration, and, at the head of the table, was the Elder Gustav who was humoring a young Mikhail and Yuliy sitting by his feet. Then, the Great Fire, the death of the people, the destruction of the northern mountain ridge –

There was no time to process the onslaught of memories as another one started. One flashed quickly after another and they were scenes Yuliy does not have any recollection at all.

Blood splatters inside a great cave, a large stone door illuminated by flickering red light, a broken seal, a familiar broken crossbow on the ground. Then, a drop of water echoed followed by silence.

The great cave was immaculate and glorious, every inch of its walls was covered by luminescent crystals that emit a soft light. A tranquil lake covered the bottom ground, undisturbed and clear. In the middle was a boy with blue-grey eyes, moonlight hair, and face that of his late brother. He was looking at him in this serene moment until darkness descended and everything went dark.

The boy was no more and in his place was –

_Ioseph._

Yuliy snapped awake with a gasp and he was back mid-air with the relic in his arm and the water seraph poised to attack. He pivoted just in time to avoid being stabbed in the chest but the blade sliced a fraction of the box’s end causing a sudden shock between the shepherd and the seraph.

There was a flash of panic appearing in Ioseph’s face, afraid that he might have damaged the artifact nestled inside the box he sliced, and the moment was enough for Philip, who materialized out of thin air, to swing a ridiculously large boulder imitating that of a fist towards the water seraph’s direction. It sent Ioseph back down to the ground with a bang and embedded him on the earth.

However, Philip was not done.

He covered the hole where the seraph landed with compact clumps of dirt and shaped it to a ball, packing it tighter and tighter as he willed with his powers to make sure the enemy does not escape. Then, he flung it unceremoniously to the next couple of mountains away much to the shepherd’s surprise.

“Better make sure he is not going to chase us.” Philip huffed and returned inside Yuliy’s chest. Compared to the twins, that Ioseph guy was more threatening.

“Didn’t know you had it in you…” Fallon was astonished, to say the least.

“Need to get him outta our way so the shepherd won’t lag. It’s irritating.” Every person in their little group knew that the tainted water seraph they battled resembled the shepherd’s late brother. It was understandable how he kept on hesitating during the entirety of their fight.

He cannot hurt his brother especially now that Yuliy was certain about a few speculations he had about The Great Fire, about the Lord of Calamity, about the strange water seraph and his link to his brother, and their village’s connection to the Lord of Light. This relic they now possess definitely had all the answers they were looking for.

“Thank you, Philip.” Yuliy chuckled, now recovered from his unusual experience, and dashed away before they were caught by any more enemies.

He had plenty to think back at home after all.

**Author's Note:**

> You know the ONE thing I struggled with here? The true names in ancient tongue. TF my head hurt translating them hahaha. Thank Maotelus for ice-cream-beat and eigwayne info blogs. Even though I had not used most of them, I will still list the names down here for the fun of it.
> 
> Willard (the Wise) - Nex Nemaud  
> (Trustworthy) Philip - Soth Felph  
> Dorothea (with Grace) - Squall Rusha  
> Fallon (of Tranquility) - Marlin Tamid
> 
> Mikhail (the Corruptor) - Ioseph


End file.
